Thirteen rescued from Hounslow restaurant blaze

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Firefighters rescued 13 people, including five children, after a fire broke out in a restaurant below their flats on Hounslow High Street on Sunday night.

Crews used a ladder to bring three adults and a child to safety from a second floor roof and another two adults and two children were rescued by ladder from the first floor. A further five people - three adults and two children - were rescued via an internal staircase by crews wearing breathing apparatus. Ten other people escaped the flats above the restaurant uninjured before the Brigade arrived. All 13 people rescued were assessed at the scene for smoke inhalation by London Ambulance Service.

The fire damaged part of the ground floor restaurant, part of the first floor and the restaurant's ducting (extraction system) between the ground and fourth floors.

Station Manager Cathie Reeve who is at the scene said: “Crews worked very hard in atrocious weather conditions at this incident. Four of the people we rescued had managed to get onto a flat roof at second floor level and as soon as we arrived our firefighters acted very quickly to pitch a ladder and bring them to safety. We also used a ladder to rescue two adults and two children from a flat on the first floor, while crews wearing breathing apparatus led five other people to safety down an internal staircase. Thankfully there were no serious injuries.

"In addition to carrying out the rescues firefighters worked to contain the fire and to stop it from spreading any further into the flats above the restaurant. Along with our partners in the police, London Ambulance Service and local authority we will now be working to return the area to normal business as soon as possible.”

The Brigade was called at 2327 (Sunday) and was under control by 0336 on Monday morning. Ten fire engines and 72 firefighters and officers from Heston, Feltham, Twickenham, Richmond, Hillingdon, Kingston and Southall fire stations attended the incident. Crews will remain at the scene damping down the fire.